Tag Archives: neck

Breath test for cancer

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Scientists have developed an “electronic nose” that can sniff out cancer in a patient’s breath.

Known as the Nano Artificial NOSE, (NA-NOSE), the technology is able to distinguish molecules found in the breath of cancer patients and those of healthy people.

Israeli scientists tested the device on 82 volunteers; 22 with head and neck cancer; 24 with lung cancer and 36 healthy individuals.

As well as being able to detect cancer molecules in the exhaled breath of head-and-neck cancer patients.

It also distinguished between lung cancer patients and healthy people, and between head-and-neck and lung cancer patients.

Each year in the UK around 8,700 people are diagnosed with head-and-neck cancer, which includes cancers of the eyes, mouth, larynx and oesophagus.

Breath test

Breath test

This includes a range of different tumour types occurring in the tissues or organs in the head and neck, for example salivary glands and mucus membranes.

Because it lacks specific symptoms, head-and-neck cancer is often diagnosed late, when it is more difficult to treat effectively.

Professor Hossam Haick, at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, said: “There’s an urgent need to develop new ways to detect head-and-neck cancer because diagnosis of the disease is complicated, requiring specialist examinations.

“We’ve shown that a simple ‘breath test’ can spot the patterns of molecules which are found in head-and-neck patients in a small, early study.


“We now need to test these results in larger studies to find if this could lead to a potential screening method for the disease.”

Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information, said: “It’s incredibly important to spot the disease as soon as possible when it is easier to treat successfully.

“These interesting initial results show promise for the development of a breath test to detect head-and-neck cancers which are often diagnosed at an advanced stage.

“But it’s important to be clear that this is a small study, at a very early stage, so many more years of research with patients will be needed to see if a breath test could be used in the clinic.”

The findings are published in the Journal of Cancer Research.

New blood pressure measurement tool

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The days of having your blood pressure taken with an uncomfortable arm-squeezing cuff may be numbered, after scientists developed a far more pleasant technique.

Researchers used an ultrasound scanner, more commonly used on pregnant women, to measure a person’s blood pressure pulse at various points around the body.

The team, from the Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands, said the procedure would help prevent heart attacks and strokes by giving a far clearer picture of the condition of the heart and blood vessels.

Dr Nathalie Binjnens, said scientists had been searching for such a non-invasive method for years.

She said: ‘The usual method is to insert a catheter with a pressure sensor. But that’s an invasive procedure, and not suitable for preventive diagnostics.

blood pressure

blood pressure

‘There’s also the traditional method using an inflatable arm cuff. But that doesn’t allow any conclusions to be drawn about – for example – the blood pressure in the carotid artery.’

The cartoid arteries are found on each side of the neck and provide the main blood supply to the brain.

‘You won’t find anyone willing to have the blood pressure in their neck measured using an inflatable cuff,’ Dr Binjnens said.

In the new technique doctors apply a small amount of gel to various points around the body so that the scanner makes good contact with the skin.

The researchers then use a mathematical model to achieve a good visualisation of the blood flow and the blood vessel wall motion, from which the blood pressure can be derived.

They can also see the variations in blood pressure and flow in time as a result of the beating of the heart.

The simultaneous knowledge of pressure and flow also provides information about ‘downstream’ parts of the vascular system.


Doctors will be able to use the technique to give an early warning to patients in danger of developing cardiovascular problems.

Dr Binjens said: ‘By performing a simple scan, the physician can detect vascular disease in an early stage and decide for a preventive treatment.’

She said it could be used to monitor diseases such as thrombosos or aneurysms (dangerous dilations of a blood vessel that can lead to strokes).

The researchers published their results last month in the scientific journal Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology.

The method was first tested on elastic plastic tubes, and after that on pigs’ carotid arteries from an abattoir, with good results.

It is currently being tested on volunteers in advance of clinical tests with patients. The results have been promising but researchers say it will take a few years to develop before it is ready for GP practices.